ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center (RDC) has begun testing and evaluation of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) off the south shore of Oahu, Hawaii, the Coast Guard 14^th District said in a release. 

The testing is scheduled to run from Oct. 7 through Nov. 5. The testing will be conducted in partnership with local Coast Guard units. 
 
“The tests will focus on autonomous vessel systems from Saildrone and Spatial Integration Systems, in addition to a USCG owned autonomous research vessel made by Metal Shark,” the release said.

“This evaluation will examine each vessel’s ability to provide persistent maritime domain awareness, especially in remote areas of the oceans. While potentially applicable to many Coast Guard missions, there is potential these technologies will help enable the Coast Guard to better protect critical natural living marine resources from Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated [IUU] fishing and other illicit activities.” 

The Coast Guard awarded two contracts on Feb. 7, 2020, totaling nearly $1.8 million, for USVs. Approximately $1.1 million goes to Saildrone Inc. of Alameda, California, and approximately $660,000 to Spatial Integrated System Inc. of Virginia Beach, Virginia. The USVs will be contractor-owned/contractor-operated during the testing and evaluation. 

The testing will be used to examine “the operational utility of the USV, including feasibility, costs and benefits,” the Coast Guard said. “Following the completion of the evaluation, the RDC will publish a report with recommendations for potential future actions for the Coast Guard.” 

Last month, Boston-based Sea Machines Robotics, partnered with shipbuilder Metal Shark Boats, of Jeanerette, Louisiana, supplied the RDC with a new Sharktech 29 Defiant USV (see SeapowerMagazine.org, Sept. 29). 

The Defiant is a “29-foot, welded-aluminum monohull pilothouse vessel that comes equipped with the Sea Machines SM300 autonomous-command and remote-helm control technology, offering the USCG capabilities including transit autonomy, collaborative autonomy, collision avoidance and remote vessel monitoring,” Sea Machines said in a release.

“During demonstrations scheduled for October off the coast of Hawaii, the RDC team will test and evaluate the Sharktech vessel’s autonomous capabilities for their potential in supporting USCG surveillance, interdiction, patrol and other missions. Following the Hawaii demonstrations, the autonomous vessel will be returned to the RDC’s New London facility, where it will be used in additional testing to investigate application to various Coast Guard missions.” 

NORWICH, Conn. — Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, issued on Oct. 6 the following statement regarding Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper’s Oct. 6 comments on submarine shipbuilding during a preview of future Navy Force Structure Plan. 
 
“Today, Secretary Esper previewed a long-overdue force structure plan that begs for more detail and explanation,” Courtney said. “Notably, the Secretary shared the predictable outcome of these months of review and study — that we need a bigger and more capable submarine force. After four long years of stonewalling Congress’s commitment to enlarging our nation’s submarine fleet — including submitting a budget this year that proposed a 19% cut to the submarine budget and eliminated a planned Virginia class submarine — the Trump administration today acknowledged what has long been blindingly obvious: Our undersea fleet is dangerously small. 
 
“If Secretary Esper is serious about boosting production, he could direct his department to support the House-passed authorization and funding levels for a second Virginia-class submarine in 2021 that reverses the Administration’s anemic shipbuilding budget in the House-Senate conference process happening right now,” Courtney added. 

WASHINGTON — Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Gilday conducted a video teleconference Oct. 6, with Rear Adm. Aaron Beng Yao Cheng, Republic of Singapore Chief of Navy, the CNO’s public affairs office said in a release. 

The two leaders discussed engagement between the two navies this past year, which included RIMPAC 2020, as well as ways to further deepen cooperation between the two navies going forward. 

“I am grateful to Republic of Singapore for their partnership and friendship – and we greatly value the contributions their Navy brings to the maritime domain,” Gilday said. “I am excited to work closely with Rear Adm. Beng and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) for years to come to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific.” 

Gilday also thanked Beng for continuing to host commander, Logistics Group Western Pacific in Sembawang and supporting the forward-deployment of Destroyer Squadron 7 and littoral combat ships, like USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10). 

Beng said the Republic of Singapore Navy and the United States Navy share a unique and long- standing relationship underpinned by mutual trust and shared values. 

“We have maintained a steady cadence of professional interactions over the last few months, which further underscores the strength of this partnership,” Beng said. “Our navies conducted a passage exercise in May, the RSN frigate RSS Supreme (73) deployed to RIMPAC 2020, and ships from both navies will conduct a bilateral CARAT exercise in December. We will continue to seek opportunities to strengthen cooperation, including resuming face-to-face interactions when the situation allows.” 

The U.S. and Singaporean navies recently exercised bilateral interoperability in the South China Sea and jointly participated in a virtual Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) symposium. The two navies operate together during exercises like Pacific Griffin 2019, the most advanced naval training between the two nations to date. 

This VTC was the first between the two leaders since Beng took office in March 2020.  

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the U.S. Navy needs a fleet of more than 500 manned and unmanned ships, including more attack submarines. 

“ We need to build more attack submarines,” Esper said, speaking Oct. 6 at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Analysis, a Washington think tank, announcing that the Defense Department is in the process of releasing the Future Naval Force Study for Battle Force 2045 and the 30-year shipbuilding plan. 

Battle Force 2045 is a plan to build an affordable, lethal, aware fleet of more than 500 manned and unmanned ships, able to maintain maritime superiority over the growing naval power of near-peer competitors China and Russia. 

He said the Navy is on a path to reach its previous goal of 355 ships by 2035 in an anticipated era of budget austerity.  

Esper said Battle Force 2045 would feature: 

• A larger, more capable force of 70 to 80 submarines, which would be increased up by building three attack submarines (SSNs) annually; pursuing the next-generation SSN; and refueling seven Los Angeles-class SSNs. The Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine program would proceed as planned. 
• A force of 8 to 11 aircraft carriers for the high-end fight — equipped with the carrier air wing of the future. The Navy will study the possibility of building up to six light carriers — equipped with short takeoff/vertical landing strike aircraft — to free up the super carriers for the high-end fight. 
• A force of 140 to 240 unmanned or optionally manned surface and subsurface vessels, for missions such as missile strikes and mining. 
• A force of more and smaller future surface combatants, about 60 to 70, including the new guided-missile frigate, able to “deliver long-range precision fires in volume.” 
• A combat logistic force of 70 to 90 ships to sustain fleet. 
• Sufficient sealift ships to transport ground forces to theaters of conflict. 
• Ship-based unmanned aircraft of all types. 
• An amphibious warfare force of 50 to 60 ships, including the types needed to support the Future Force vision of Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David H. Berger. 

Esper said Battle Force 2045 would require additional shipbuilding funds, for which Congressional support would be needed, that would rival the Reagan build-up of the fleet in the 1980s. He also said he would request statutory authority to divert unexpended funds from the Navy at the end of each fiscal year to invest into shipbuilding. He also stressed the need to divest some legacy systems to free up funds for modernization. 

He also said the Navy would need increased shipyard capacity — in the Navy’s four shipyards and in the shipbuilding industry’s yards — to build and maintain the 500+ ships of Battle Force 2045. 

SAN DIEGO – Guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG 91) returned to its homeport, Naval Station San Diego, following a nine-month deployment to U.S. 7th Fleet and U.S. 4th Fleet areas of operations, Oct. 5, U.S. Third Fleet Public Affairs said in an Oct. 6 release. 

Pinckney, along with a detachment from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 75, deployed in January with the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. Pinckney arrived in the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations in April to participate in U.S. Southern Command and Joint Interagency Task Force South’s enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean. 

“The Sailors of Pinckney have helped make the United States a safer place to live,” said Cmdr. Andrew Roy, Pinckney’s commanding officer. “I thank all Pinckney Sailors and U.S. Coast Guardsmen who overcame many obstacles to make sure illicit narcotics will never make it into our homes, schools, or communities.” 

During their deployment, Pinckney, with its embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET), recovered an estimated 9,800 kilograms (21,605 pounds) of suspected cocaine and an estimated 2,800 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated wholesale value of more than $720 million. In addition, Pinckney also conducted freedom of navigation operations and participated in a passing exercise (PASSEX) with the Guatemalan navy. 

“A lengthy deployment is always challenging, even more so in the midst of a global pandemic that kept us all on the ship for the past six months,” said Cmdr. Ryan Conole, Pinckney’s executive officer. “Our team was able stay focused and on mission, and we could not have done that without the support of our families and friends back home who were also dealing with an incredibly challenging environment on the homefront.” 

Pinckney joined other U.S. Navy warships, numerous U.S. agencies from the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security cooperating in the effort to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with allied and international partner agencies, are all playing a role in counterdrug operations. 

GROTON, Conn. — General Dynamics Electric Boat, a business unit of General Dynamics, was awarded two U.S. Navy contracts this week with a total value of $251 million, the company said in an Oct. 1 release.  

The first contract is a $215.7 million modification to a previously awarded contract, the cumulative value of which, if all options are exercised, could be more than $1 billion. Electric Boat will provide planning yard, design agent, engineering services and technical support for in-service submarines and submersible systems. The second contract is a $35.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Reactor Plant Planning Yard services for the submarine fleet and Support Yard services for the Navy’s Moored Training Ships.   

“The shipbuilders of Electric Boat are proud to be a partner to the U.S. Navy, and continue to execute our mission to provide our sailors with the advantage that helps protect our Navy and our nation,” said Kevin Graney, president of General Dynamics Electric Boat.  “We continue to work to hire, train and develop future generations of shipbuilders as we continue to deliver the Virginia class of fast attack submarines and move toward full-scale construction of the Columbia class of ballistic missile submarines.”   

EVENDALE, Ohio — GE Marine has signed a contract with STM (Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik Ve Ticaret A.Ş.), Ankara, Turkey, to provide LM2500 marine gas turbines to power the Pakistan Navy’s new MILGEM multipurpose corvettes, GE announced in an Oct. 6 release. STM is the main propulsion system integrator for the MILGEM newbuilds.  

In July 2018, the Pakistan Navy contracted for four MILGEM corvettes with ASFAT (Askeri Fabrika ve Tersane İşletme A.Ş.), two of them to be built in Turkey and the other two in Pakistan. Recent milestones for the Pakistan Navy’s MILGEM program include the keel laying of the first ship in Istanbul, Turkey, and the steel cutting ceremony for the second corvette in Karachi, Pakistan.  

“We are delighted to provide the Pakistan Navy with our proven LM2500 gas turbine to power these new MILGEM corvettes,” said Kris Shepherd, vice president, Marine Operations, GE Marine, Evendale, Ohio. “Our LM2500 gas turbines are reliably logging operating hours onboard the Turkish Navy’s four MILGEM corvettes, the first of which was commissioned in 2011,” he added. 

The propulsion system for all the MILGEM ships consist of one LM2500 gas turbine in a combined diesel and gas turbine configuration with two diesel engines; total propulsion power is 31,600 kilowatts. Additionally, 24 LM2500s operate aboard the Turkish Navy’s Barbaros and Gabya class frigates. Worldwide, there are over 1,200 marine LM2500 gas turbines providing reliable power for 39 international navies and in countless industrial applications.  

The LM2500 gas turbines for the Pakistan Navy’s MILGEM program will be manufactured at GE’s facility in Evendale, Ohio.

BOSTON — Sea Machines Robotics, a Boston-based developer of autonomous command and control systems for surface vessels, has been awarded a multi-year Other Transaction agreement by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), the company announced in an Oct. 5 release. 

The primary purpose of the agreement is to initiate a prototype that will enable commercial ocean-service barges as autonomous Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP) units for an Amphibious Maritime Projection Platform (AMPP).  
 
Under this OT agreement, Sea Machines will engineer, build and demonstrate ready-to-deploy system kits that enable autonomous, self-propelled operation of opportunistically available barges to land and replenish military aircraft. The kits will include Sea Machines’ SM300 autonomous-command and control systems, barge propulsion, sensing, positioning, communications and refueling equipment, as well as items required for global deployment. Each modular kit will meet U.S. Navy criteria and will be in compliance with classifications and regulations from the DoD’s aviation bodies.  
 
The contract includes a concept demonstration phase, with an option for following phases to deploy SM300 Operational Kits. The live concept demonstration is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2020, in Washington state, for which Sea Machines has teamed with FOSS Maritime, a leading maritime transportation and logistics provider based in Seattle. FOSS will provide naval architecture, support engineering and operations management to outfit a remotely commanded deck barge to land helicopters and host a scaled fueling station for aircraft, surface vessels and shore replenishment. Using the SM300, shoreside operators will have remote situational awareness and will be able to demonstrate the capabilities of remote command and control of the vessel, her operating systems and flight deck. 
 
Sea Machines is the prime contractor for the multi-year contract and is working closely alongside FOSS Maritime and other significant industry leaders, including Huntington Ingalls, America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services, based in Newport News, Virginia, and Bell Flight, a producer of commercial and military, vertical-lift aircraft, based in Fort Worth, Texas, to ensure a successful demonstration. 
 
“The AMPP autonomous replenishment systems will solve critical logistics challenges of expeditionary missions. We are pleased to enable this innovative capability, which will increase the effectiveness and flexibility for the U.S. military,” said Sea Machines’ Phil Bourque, director, sales. “With Sea Machines systems already working off the waters of four continents, this project is well suited for us and one that we look forward to delivering on for the U.S. government.” 
 
“Foss is excited about this new opportunity with Sea Machines.This contract has led to discussions with Sea Machines in a number of other areas where their expertise can help Foss, including bringing more technology to our tug fleet. What they are doing in automation is very interesting and that technology could help our mariners and our vessels safety,” said FOSS’s Will Roberts, chief operating officer. 
 
DIU’s work is part of the DoD’s Resilient Expeditionary Agile Littoral Logistics (REALL) Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) project. Funded by the Office of the Secretary of Defense Research & Engineering, the JCTD Program addresses Combatant Command and Joint warfighting gaps through prototyping and demonstration of innovative and game-changing technologies. 

The following offices are involved with defining performance requirements and developing capabilities for REALL: U.S. Central Command, U.S. Transportation Command, U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, Army Engineer Research and Development Center, and the Naval Aviation Warfare Center – Lakehurst. 
 

SAN DIEGO — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast (WMEC-623) offloaded approximately 3,905 pounds of suspected cocaine in San Diego, Oct. 1, the Coast 11th District said in a release. 

The drugs, worth an estimated $67 million, were seized in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean and represent two suspected drug smuggling vessel interdictions off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America in early September by the Steadfast crew. 

On April 1, U.S. Southern Command began enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere to disrupt the flow of drugs in support of Presidential National Security Objectives. Numerous U.S. agencies from the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security cooperate in the effort to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with allied and international partner agencies, play a role in counter-drug operations.  

The fight against drug cartels in the Eastern Pacific Ocean requires unity of effort in all phases from detection, monitoring and interdictions, to criminal prosecutions by international partners and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in districts across the nation. The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean is conducted under the authority of the 11th Coast Guard District, headquartered in Alameda. The interdictions, including the actual boardings, are led and conducted by members of the U.S. Coast Guard. 

The Steadfast is a 210-foot medium-endurance cutter that was commissioned in 1968 and is homeported in Astoria, Oregon. 

PASCAGOULA, Miss. — Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division successfully completed acceptance sea trials for the U.S. Coast Guard’s newest national security cutter, Stone (WMSL 758), the company said in an Oct. 2 release. During seal trials, the ship spent two days in the Gulf of Mexico proving its systems. 

“I am very proud of the Ingalls team that conducted another outstanding acceptance trial on our ninth national security cutter Stone. This ship, like all of the national security cutters we have delivered, will be capable of undertaking the most challenging Coast Guard missions with great capability and endurance,” Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias said. “We are proud of our shipbuilders and the state-of-the-art design and construction of Stone, and we look forward to the ship’s upcoming delivery.” 

Ingalls has delivered eight Legend-class NSCs with two more under construction and one additional under contract. Stone is scheduled to deliver later this year and will be homeported in Charleston, South Carolina.  

NSC 9 was named to honor Coast Guard officer Commander Elmer “Archie” Fowler Stone, Coast Guard aviator number one, who made history in 1919 for being one of two Coast Guard pilots in the four man air crew who completed the first transatlantic flight in a Navy seaplane. 

The Legend-class NSC is the most technologically advanced ship in the Coast Guard’s fleet, which enables it to meet the high demands required for maritime and homeland security, law enforcement, marine safety, environmental protection and national defense missions. NSCs are 418 feet long with a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 120.